"And then I told him to shut up and finish my god damn data report and the son of a bitch did!" the man bellowed rocking back in his chair.
Carol smiled politely and let out short laugh, jesus fucking christ this was going to be a long night. Why had she agreed to this? Trust Michonne to send on her on a date with without a doubt the most obnoxious boring man she had ever met.
This is literally all it was, a favour for a close friend. Michonne was a painter and a good one at that, in need of some publicity. This guy said he had a friend who ran a huge art exhibition and he would guarantee her art a place, on one condition. Carol was the condition, he wanted to take her out on a date, heaven knows why, he'd only ever seen in pictures with Michonne. But still she knew how much this meant to Michonne so she agreed, the guy didn't seem so bad from what she'd heard. She'd heard wrong.
The guy, 'Shane' she believed he was called but honestly she wasn't sure, had insisted on taking her to the most expensive restaurant in the area. If he thought money was going to wow her then he had another thing coming. This was the kind of place where the waiters wore full suits and chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the food looked better than it tasted.
She curled a lock of long auburn hair around her finger, eyeing her menu as he continued to talk at her.
"Ah the waiter," Shane spoke, pulling her eyes up to look at him.
She was relieved that a waiter was finally coming over, giving her an excuse to talk to anyone but Shane.
"Good evening I'm Daryl and I'll be your waiter for this evening, what can I get for you two?"
Carol gaze left her menu to look up at Daryl. Fuck. Well that was just great, she was more attracted to the waiter than her date. God he was hot, like incredibly good looking, the suit he was made to wear was certainly doing him justice.
Daryl caught her eyeing him and a whisper of a smile crossed his lips.
Across the table Shane was still 'um'ing and 'ah'ing, deciding what to order.
When Carol looked back up Daryl was already looking at her, sucking his teeth with a devilsh brow raised.
If she stayed quiet any longer she knew Shane might actually notice and he did not need to see how flushed she was right now- she didn't want him to get the idea that it was him doing that to her.
"I'll have the wild mushroom risotto and a glass of sauvignon blanc please," she said smoothly, her eyes boring into Daryl's.
"Excellent choice madame," he responded just as smoothly, his voice like warm caramel.
"Yeah I'll just get scallops and a glass of red, any," Shane said to Daryl, immediately going back to Carol to tell her more of his shooting range stories.
"Certainly sir," Daryl muttered under his breath giving Carol a look over before he walked away.
She felt herself blush again, Shane still oblivious, rambling on and on about himself. She resisted an eye roll at him when he paused for breath and then continued on. Still at least she had a bit of eye-candy to keep her preoccupied she thought as she gazed over to where Daryl was now bringing over their drinks.
Shane stood as he reached the table and they both paused, "I gotta piss, be right back."
He walked off leaving her and Daryl alone.
"Charming," she muttered under her breath watching as Daryl set down the glasses of wine.
Daryl snorted gazing down at her, "what kind of bet did you lose?"
"'Scuse me?" she asked, looking up from where he now stood very close.
"The bet you lost, the one that meant you had to come out with this jackass," Daryl said giving her a smirk.
"Oh if only it was that simple," she scoffed.
"What you plannin' more dates with Mr Egotistic Jackass?" Daryl asked raising a brow at her.
"Hopefully not, but I'll probably be seeing him around after this one."
"That's too bad," Daryl chuckled, going quiet for a moment, "what's your name?"
She felt a smile tug on her lips, "wouldn't you like to know."
He gave her a dark grin back, "well yeah that's why I'm asking."
"I'm afraid your time is running out Daryl," Carol purred, did she seriously just purr?
Daryl looked over to where her eyes were, noticing Shane walking back to the table.
His hand grazed over her knee and she jolted a little, her eyes narrowing at him.
"I'll be back," he murmured walking away.
"Don't leave me," she hissed grinning at him.
He shot her a wink walking towards the kitchen.
Good god what was she doing? Flirting with the waiter on this god awful date that's what she was doing and she was having the most fun she'd had in a long time.
Shane actually took the time to ask her a few brief questions about herself and she was grateful for those few moments not having to listen to his loud harsh voice bellow on.
Daryl returned a few minutes later with their food, his eyes barely left hers, they traveled all over her in the moments he knew Shane wasn't watching. Traveled straight down the plunge in her dress, licking his lips discreetly as he did so.
Carol felt that familiar blush rise up her neck to the tips of her ears, but she could give out as good as she could get.
When he asked them if there was anything else he could do for them Carol's eyes slowly wandered down his body, stopping when she got to his crotch, her eyes flicking right back up to his.
"No I think that will be all thank you," Carol said watching as he shifted in his spot.
How Shane hadn't seen was beyond her but he seemed to be having a great time with himself.
As they ate their meal Carol decided to keep some sort of conversation going since there wasn't much else to do.
Once she had finished she excused herself to the bathroom, standing up and adjusting her black, curve hugging dress. She wasn't sure why she made so much effort, more out of politeness than anything. Although the way Daryl looked at her she knew her efforts weren't entirely wasted.
She walked towards the kitchen to where the women's toilets were. As she approached the kitchen she paused hearing Daryl's voice. She glanced back to where Shane was sitting, too engrossed in his phone to even consider looking back. She stood for a while longer listening to the conversation.
"Dude you gotta stop," a man said.
"Stop what?" Daryl asked, she could practically hear the smug grin on his face through his tone.
"She's on a date," the guy hissed, "and not with you."
"Yeah a date with a tool, I could show her a real man," Daryl said sniggering at his friends reaction.
"Daryl! I'm serious, you carry on the way you're going and I'm gonna be finding you screwing her in the back freezer."
"What like I caught you and Maggie?" Daryl teased.
"It was one time," the guy grumbled.
"Anyway I gotta get back, wish me luck," Daryl said.
Carol panicked and walked forward quickly passing the kitchen, not realizing she had caught Daryl's eye.
As she paced quickly around the corner she felt strong hands against her waist and she jumped.
"Sir I'm not sure following me to the bathroom is entirely appropriate," Carol teased as she faced him.
"Hm but it was entirely necessary," Daryl growled low in his throat, "what's your name?"
"You don't give up do you?" Carol said stepping back as he walked towards her.
"Nope, come on just tell me?" he pressed on, backing her further into the corner.
"I have to get back," she said her back pressing against the marble wall.
He took one more step towards her.
"Is- is it hot in here?" she asked laughing nervously.
Daryl shook his head, laughing lowly.
"Tell me your name and I'll let you get back to your dinner."
Her hands ran over his chest, taking advantage of his proximity.
"Not until you tell me why," she said quietly.
He sighed under her touch, "cause, I wanna ask you out, be nice to know your name."
A smile grew across her face, "really?"
"Yeah dammit, now you gonna tell me or not, I got people to wait on lady, you being one of them," he said giving her a lopsided grin.
She pursed her lips together giving him a smirk, "it's Carol."
"Well Carol, will you let me take you out sometime?" Daryl asked leaning into her.
She nodded, unable to speak at his proximity.
Daryl put on his waiter voice as his mouth grazed her ear, "well I hope you enjoy the rest of your date Carol, I'll be out to serve you momentarily, but before I go is there anything else I can do for you?"
"No," Carol breathed, "I think that will be all thank you."